社説:ＩＷＣ総会 守るべきは湾岸捕鯨だ

September 17, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Japan must give up Antarctic whaling, focus on preserving coastal hunt
社説:ＩＷＣ総会　守るべきは湾岸捕鯨だ

The Japanese government will unveil plans to resume research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean at the International Whaling Commission meeting now in session in Slovenia.
　政府は開催中の国際捕鯨委員会（ＩＷＣ）総会で、南極海で調査捕鯨を再開する計画を示す。
   
It is an absolute certainty, however, that the move will be strongly opposed by a number of anti-whaling nations, while the International Court of Justice has already ordered Japan to cease research whaling. As such, Japan should switch strategies. It should abandon Antarctic whaling -- the necessity of which is doubtful in any case -- and emphasize instead coastal whaling around Japan, which has a foundation in traditional Japanese food culture.
　しかし、国際司法裁判所（ＩＣＪ）から中止命令を受けた調査に対し、反捕鯨国が強く反発するのは確実だ。必要性の乏しい南極海での捕鯨からは撤退し、伝統的な食文化といえる沿岸捕鯨に理解を求める戦略に転換すべきだ。

The international court ordered Japan to halt its Antarctic whaling program in March this year, stating that the program did not meet international standards for what constitutes scientific research. The court also took issue with Japan's insistence that the take of 103 minke whales in the 2012-2013 season was scientifically useful, despite the country's assertion that a "sample size" of about 850 was necessary for its scientific objectives. The court said that this and other parts of Japan's case "cast doubt" on the "characterization of JARPA II (the research whaling project) as a programme for the purposes of scientific research."
　ＩＣＪが今年３月に中止命令を出したのは、南極海での日本の調査捕鯨が国際条約で認められる科学調査に該当しないと判断したからだ。生態調査には科学的に８５０頭前後必要だとして捕獲枠を確保しながら、１００頭余りしか捕っていない点などが合理性に欠けると認定された。

Japan accepted the international court's decision and called off the whaling expedition for fiscal 2014.
　判決を受けて今年度は南極海での調査を見送り、北西太平洋での調査も規模を縮小した。

The government apparently plans to consult experts in setting a vastly reduced annual whaling quota for missions in fiscal 2015 and beyond, and call on other nations for their understanding.
　今回は来年度以降の南極海での調査について、専門家の意見を踏まえて捕獲枠を大幅に引き下げるなどの見直し案を示し、各国の理解を求めるという。

Anti-whaling leader New Zealand, however, has already submitted a motion to the IWC meeting calling for Japan's research whaling to be postponed. The motion has already received the apparent backing of a number of countries including Australia, and Japan's plan faces a hard road that's quickly getting even harder.
　しかし、総会では既に反捕鯨国のニュージーランドが事実上調査の先延ばしを求める決議案を提出し、オーストラリアなどが賛成の姿勢を示すなど日本に対する風当たりは強まっている。

The Antarctic research whaling program was started to help establish a scientific basis for the resumption of commercial whaling, which has been suspended by the IWC since the 1985-1986 season. Whale meat consumption in Japan, however, has dropped significantly, with the amount of whale on the market now just around 2 percent of what it was at its peak in 1962. Japan furthermore imports whale meat from Iceland -- which has continued commercial whaling -- and there is now an oversupply. There is very little reason to restart commercial whaling in the Antarctic Ocean, which means there is no need to keep doing research whaling to that end.
　南極海での調査捕鯨はＩＷＣが一時停止を決めた商業捕鯨再開のため科学的根拠を示そうと始まった。ところが国内の鯨肉消費は激減し、最近の流通量は最も多かった１９６２年の２％程度にとどまる。しかも商業捕鯨を続けるアイスランドなどからの輸入もあり、需給はだぶついている。南極海で商業捕鯨を再開する必要性は乏しい。それを目的とした調査も、もはや必要ないだろう。

Mind you, neither can Japan completely go over to the other side, joining nations completely opposed to whaling and eating whale meat. Coastal hunts for small whales continue in places such as Abashiri, Hokkaido, Ayukawa, Miyagi Prefecture, Wada, Chiba Prefecture, and Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, where they are an important part of traditional culture and where whale meat is still a part of the local diet. Japan may have no great reason to seek the resumption of the Antarctic whale hunt, but it does need to protect these local culinary traditions.
　もっとも、鯨食を否定してすべての捕鯨を認めない反捕鯨国側の主張にもくみすることはできない。北海道の網走、宮城県の鮎川、千葉県の和田、和歌山県の太地などでは沿岸で小型捕鯨が伝統的に続けられ、鯨食が定着している。そうした地域に根ざした食文化は守る必要がある。

Japan's coastal whalers now take Baird's beaked whales, among other varieties, after the IWC banned the hunt for the previously most popular variety, the minke whale. The Japanese government has called on the IWC to set a limited minke catch for the northwestern Pacific, but has so far been denied. Japan has proposed the same measure again at the current IWC meeting, but support looks hard to obtain.
　沿岸小型捕鯨はミンククジラが主体だったが、ＩＷＣで禁じられたため、管理の対象外のツチクジラなどを捕っている。政府はＩＷＣで北西太平洋沿岸でのミンククジラの捕獲枠設定を求め、否定され続けてきた。今回も提案しているが、理解を得るのは難しそうだ。

Japan's insistence on moving ahead with Antarctic whaling has invited the intense opposition of other IWC nations, which is then also extended to Japanese requests for a coastal whaling compromise. Japan must break the connection between Antarctic whaling and coastal hunts. To gain support from other countries, Japan must use the ecological data already collected to build a persuasive case. The government must make greater efforts to preserve the coastal whaling traditions of Japan.
　南極海での捕鯨に固執して参加国の反発を招き、沿岸での捕獲枠設定まで否定されるという負の連鎖からは脱却する必要がある。各国の理解を得るには、これまで積みあげた生態に関するデータを元に粘り強い説得が求められる。そうした努力は沿岸捕鯨を守るために重ねるべきだ。

毎日新聞　2014年09月17日　02時30分